Please look after this bear! The polite immigrant bear from Darkest Peru, with his old floppy hat, battered suitcase and marmalade sandwiches has become a classic English children's literature icon and is as notable as Winnie the Pooh.
Although Paddington now lives in London, England, he originally came from Darkest Peru where he was brought up by his Aunt Lucy after he was orphaned following an earthquake when he was just a few weeks old.
When Aunt Lucy went to live in the Home for Retired Bears in Lima, she decided to send him to England to live. After teaching him to speak English she arranged for him to stow away in a ship’s lifeboat.
Eventually, Paddington arrived on Paddington Station in London which is where the very first story begins with the words:
“Mr. and Mrs. Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform. In fact, that was how he came to have such an unusual name for a bear for Paddington was the name of the station.”
The Browns were at the station to meet their daughter Judy when Mr. Brown spotted a bear sitting all alone on a suitcase, behind a pile of mail bags, close to the lost property office. The bear was wearing nothing but a hat and he had a label round his neck bearing the words “Ple
